Gear-cutting machine.



No. 727,761. PATENTED'MAY 12, 1903.

H. B. & P. L. EBERHARDT. GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED P33. 27, 1902.

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ZIWfiJ A 72 I Nowms mans co., PHOTOdJTH I No. 727,7 1.

- 'PATENTED MAY-12,1903. 3. RM. LIEBBRH'ARDT. GEAR. CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED P211. 27, 1902.

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No. 727,761- PATENTED MAY 12,.1903. H. E. & F. L. EBERHARDT.

' GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27, 1902. N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

fig a 26 (5. gma 9L UNITED STATES Patented May 12, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. EBERHARDT AND, FRED EBERHARDT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO GOULD & EBERHARDT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A' CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GEAR-CUTTING MACHINE.

'SI'ECIFIGATION forming part of Letters fatent No. 727,761, dated May 12, 1903. Application filed February 2' 7, 1902. Serial No. 95,936. (No model) To all whom it may concern/.

Be it known that WO,HENRY EVEBERHARDT, residing at 113 Orchard street, and FRED L. EBERHARDT, residing at 17 Hillside avenue, Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gear-Out ting Engines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, formihga part of the same.

The present invention relates to that class of gear-cutting machines in which the cuttercarriage is reciprocated parallel with the spindle of the gear-blank, such spindle being adjustable to and from the cutter-head to support blanks of various sizes in the proper relation to the cutter. monly constructed with a horizontal bed havin g ways upon which the cutter-carriage is reciprocated horizon tally and a vertical column at one end of the bed upon which a head is adjustable-vertically to carry the blank-spindle. In such machines diskcutters have always heretofore been used, and with such construction on'ly spur-gears can be cut, as the cutter is necessarily traversed parallel with the blank-spindle;

The principal object of this invention is to adapt such machines to cut spiral gears by placing a certain attachment upon the reciprocating carriage to support an end-milling cutter upon a vertical spindle. In machines of this class it is common to form the horizontal cutter-arbor with a socket into which the shank of the cutter-spindle can be fitted, and in the present invention the end-milling cutter is driven by gearing which is connected with a shank fitted to the socket in the cutter-arbor interchangeably with the cutterspindle.

By the use of an end-milling cutter the traversing of the cutter parallel with the blankspindle does not prevent the formation of spiral teeth, as the blank-spindle and'the blank may be rotated gradually during the cutting of the tooth and the tooth thus inclined spirally to the axis of the blank. The blankspiudle for supporting the gear-blank is usually fitted to a tapering socket in a rotatable support or slceve,to which the indexing-wheel deXing-wheel. outer end of the screw and attaching the same to the blank support or sleeve-thecollar may Such machines are com is attached, and the blank-spindle is commouly 'drawn intothe tapering socket by a locking-screw with collar adjacent to the in- By fitting a cap around the be sustained when the locking-screw is reversed to push the blank-spindle from its socket.

' We have found that a hand-wheel of very moderate size vsuliices to turn the screw for locking the spindle in the socket, but that the same hand wheel is often unable'to force the spindle from the socket by reversing the locking-screw when the spindle becomes accidentally jammed in its socket. 'To quickly dislodge the spindle by means of such lockingscrew, we provide two levers of materially different lengths upon the outer end of the lockiug-screwand use the shorter one for looking the spindle and the longer one for unlocking the same. To prevent the use of the longer lever for locking the spindle, we connect it detachably with the screw by a ratchet with sloping teeth which permits the longer lever to turn the screw in one direction onlythat required for expelling the blank-spindle.

Pans of various kinds have been placed around the bed of a gear-cutterto catch the oil which drips from projecting bearings, and especially to receive the chips and oil discharged from the cutter when the latter is cutting metals which requirelubrication, and r erator when setting a gear and cutter requires to inspect them very closely, the pan forms a serious obstruction to the access of the operator and compels him to lean over in a very uncomfortable manner.

The present invention provides a floor-pan in which the oil-trough is raised above the level of the floor and overhung upon a base of sutiicient size to adequately support the machine, but notiuterfere with the operators standing as close to the bed'as is necessary. By thus raising the oil-trough opportunity is afforded in the pan below the bottom of the trough to form a tank to hold the stock of oil, and thus prevent its accumulatingin the trough.

In practice it is preferred that the chips and oil discharged from the cuttershould fall through an aperture in the bed, and in such case a platform is arranged above the level of the trough to facilitate the drainage of the oil from the chips and the transmission of the oil to the tank comparatively free from sediment. The tank is formed with partitions projecting upwardly a suitable distance from the bottom, near the edges of the tank, to skim the oil as it enters the tank, and thus arrest the sediment near its edges. In the space between such partitions the pipe of a suction-pump may draw the oil quite clean to feed it to the cutter. The gearing to reciprocate the carriage is commonly extended from the front end of the gear-cutter bed, and the pan is correspondingly extended from the forward edge of the base to catch any oil that drips from such gearing.

At one side of the machine, where the operator stands, the trough is preferably formed as a narrow channel to catch any oil which runs down the edge of the machine, but not to obstruct the close access of the operator to the machine. Upon the opposite side of the machine the tank maybe conveniently located without interfering with the operator, and the trough may be extended around the rear end of the machine to catch any drip from projecting parts and then connected with the rear end of the tank. All parts of the trough are formed with an inclination toward the tank, and to limit as much as possible the flow of oil toward the front of the machine, where its appearance is most unsightly, the channel upon the operators side of the machine is preferably inclined from the front of the bed to the rear end to discharge its oil into the rear end of the tank. The ends of the tank-cover are raised a little above the bottom of the trough to permit the oilto enter without flowing upon the top of the cover, and the appearance of the whole arrangement is thus rendered more neat and cleanly.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a gear-cutter having horizontal bed and vertical column to sustain the gear-blank adjustably, the floor-pan being shown in section at the bottom of the machine. Fig. 1 shows the worm-spindle, and Fig. 1 the floor-pan cover. Fig. 2 is a plan of the floor-pan, and Fig. 3 a cross-section at the front end of the tank. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the gear-cutter with the base and the cutter-carriage and adjacent parts in transverse section at the center line of the cutter-driving arbor. Fig. 5 is a plan of the cutter-carriage with the end-milling cutterlmounted thereon as in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the cutter-carriage with a part of the bed in section where hatched and the cutter-arbor provided with a disk cutter. Fig. 7 is a detail of the gearspindle for the end-milling cutter. Fig. 8 is a sectional plan of the blank-spindle support and its attachments at the center of the spindie, only the parts being shown in section where they are hatched. Fig. 9 is a section of a part of the attachments atthe rear end of the locking-screw. Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the same on line 10 10 in Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a section of the gear-blank support, showing a modification of the locking-screw.

The machine illustrated is of the type shown in Eberhardts Patent, No. 575,393, issued January 19, 1897.

The horizontal bed a of the machine is shown with vertical column Z) at one end, carrying a head 0, in which the rotary spindlesupport (I is fitted to carry a horizontal blankspindle and provided with indexing-wheel c, with wormf to turn the same. A carriage g is shown fitted to reciprocate horizontally upon the bed to and from the column and is provided with the usual feed-screw g and with a horizontal cutter-driving arbor h, arranged transverse to the movement of the carriage.

A driving-shaft c, which would be provided with a pulley for driving the same, is connected by gearing with a side shaft 70, extended through bearings it upon the cuttercarriage to a casing Z upon the front end of the bed, in which the usual gearing is commonly arranged to transmit the power of the driving-shaft to the feed-screw g, if it is desired to reciprocate the carriage automatically. A shaft K is shown connected by change-wheels m and graduated wheel m to the indexing worm-shaft f. The Wheel m turns loosely upon the shaft between its bearing and a crank 71,, which is furnished with a pointer or pin it to set to the graduations upon the graduated wheel. The crank is attached to the worm-shaft, and when the pin it is engaged with holes 0 in the graduated wheel the rotations of the change-wheels turn the worm fand rotate the index-wheel. Such action is desired in cutting worm or spiral teeth upon the gear-blank, the crank and graduations being used to turn the worm within the graduated wheel after cutting each spiral tooth for spacing the several teeth at the required distance. The devices for conveying a variable motion from the driving-shaft to the worm-shaft and for spacing the teeth are wholly immaterial, as their nature is already well known and may be varied in any desired manner without affecting this invention.

The cutter-arbor his shown in Fig. 6 mounted in a horizontal bearing H at right angles to the movement of the cutter-carriage and provided with a socket to which the shank of the carriage, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, by removing the cutter-spindle h from the cutter-driving arbor 7t and removing the outboard-bearing h and substituting a vertical bearing H, having a vertical cutter-shaft I therein, with socket for the shank J of the end-milling cutter H. The shaft I is shown 7 formed with a bevel-gear 1' upon the top, and

end-milling cutter in operation.

a gear-spindle J is shown fitted to the socket in the cutter-driving arbor interchangeably with the shank of the cutter-spindle 7L and provided with gear 1 adapted to drive the gear I. The bearing H is shown with a foot H adapted to fit upon the seat-of the outboard-bearing h, and with feet H adapted to straddle the bearing H of. the cutter-driving arbor.

The fastenings which secure the feet of the bearing to the carriage are constructed to always hold the bearing in the sameposition,

with the axis of the end-milling cutter HT directed toward the blank-spindle at right angles thereto, and the bearing, with its spindle and gearing, thus constitutes an attachment which may be applied with perfect accuracy to the cutter-carriage in the position required' to support the end-milling cutter. The gear-. spindle-J being fitted to the socketin'the cutter-driving arbor interchangeably with the shank of the cutter-spindle b the attachment can be applied withoutv any particular. skill and requires no adjustment to place the The bearing H is preferably provided with a housing. or guard to prevent chips: produced by the milling-cutterfrom falling into the gearing which drives the same, and as such guard covers the gearing the gearing isnecessarily separable to permit the bearing H to be removed from the carriage before removing the cutter-gear 1 from the spindle-gear 1 Such detachability is effected by the use vof the bevelgears thereon, and the chips are excluded from the same by extending. a housiug G from the top of the spindle-bearingH over the gear I and applying a guardt closely to the top of such housing and to the gear I? at the base of the milling-cutter.

The guard i is shown in Fig. 4, but omitted from Fig. 5. It is preferably attached to the housing by screws, as indicated by the holes t in Fig. 5, and the gear I revolves in close contact with it.

The housing isextended over the top of the gear 1 and at all other points around the bearing H it is extended outwardly and provided with a marginal flange to form a trough G, in which the oil and chips fall from the cutter and from which the oil flows bya spout With such a construction theend-milling cutter can be readily applied to.

Gr at the rear side. The oil thusfallsat the 'rear end of the carriage and escapes through the bed to the platform A, where, its sediment is settled before it runs to the tank. The

bearingH with its feet and oilrtrough and the shank carrying the bevel-gear 1 form a very compact attachment, which may be con-.

nected' in a few minutes with the driving-an,

bor by removing the cutter-spindle and substituting the gear 1 with its shank J. The

spindle J is set vertically underneaththe blank-spindle and is'thus adapted tosus- .tain an end-milling cutter in the right relation to the gear-blank whatever the pitch of the teeth or the size of the end-milling cutter. This ,is not the case with any machine employing disk cutters, as the cutters of different pitches are ,made of various thicknesses and pressed against, a collar or shoulder upon a cutting arbor. or spindle by a clamping-nut or its equivalent. The adjust-x ment of such varying cutters against thesame shou'lderwould throw the, center of the different cutters-into difierent positions, and it is therefore common in applying-difierentsized cutters to the cutter-spindle of agear cut-ting machine to use bushings and sleeves .of various kinds to center the cutter or-to :make the entire cutter-arbor adjustable 1ongitudinally. .In either case it is necessary to use a plumb-line or suitable gage to set the location of the cutter-spindle is unvarying-in sized. end-milling cutter maybe employed.

its relation to the ,blank-spindlewhatever The feet of the vertical bearing H may thus be constructed to fit accurately in the 'required position upon. the: reciprocating car- IIO ria e and ma alwa *s be securedthereon in the same position when applied for th purpose of cutting spiral-gears.

The end milling cutter may when desired be used for roughing out or finishing the teeth of spur-gears, and a great increase in the ca-' pacity of agiven gear-cutting machine is secured by using the end-milling cutter, either.

for cutting-spur or bevel gears, byreasonof the diminished radius of the cutter-teeth upon an end-milling-cutter as compared with the radius of a disk cutter to make teeth of a givensize.

The disparity in the capacity ofan endmilling-cutter, as compared with adiskv cut.-; I ter can be observed by comparing the cutters r.

spectively.. In Fig. 4 the blank-spindle Dis shown with gear-blank E having space E cut in theblank at one side of a tooth E while in Fig. 6 a blank is shown with similar spaces out by a disk cutter. The two figures aredrawn upon the same scale, and.v the teeth and the and the blanks shown in;Figs. 4.and 6, re-

spaces formed by the end-milling cutter shown in Fig. 4 being three times the size or pitch of the teeth and spaces formed by the cutter shown in Fig. 6. Notwithstanding such increased pitch the diameter of the end-milling cutter at the widest portion of the space between the teeth in Fig. 4 is only half as great as the diameter of the cutter shown in Fig. 6, while the point of the end-milling cutter has a cutting radius of only one-quarter the diameter of the disk cutter. The power required to drive such end-milling cutter is thus utilized to form teeth very much greater than any teeth which can be formed with a disk cutter with the same power, and the provision of such an attachment as we have claimed herein enables an end-milling cutter to be frequently used with advantage in machines having the carriage fitted to rigid ways upon the bed of the gear-cutter, so as to travel always parallel with the blank-spindle.

The use of a milling-cutter also saves a great deal of expense in the cutters themselves, as a milling-cutter is only about onethird as costly as a disk cutter to cut teeth of the same pitch. It will readily be seen by inspection of Fig. 6 how greatly the disk cutter would have to be enlarged in diameter and thickness to cut the teeth shown in Fig. 4. The end-milling cutter thus costs less and consumes less power to operate. The use of' our attachment permits the formation of spiral teeth upon a blank in machines having no turn-table to set the cutterarbor at any other than a right angle to the blank-spindle, as an end-milling cutter can move through a spiral tooth-space while propelled parallel with the gearspindle and does not require to be inclined to the same angle as the space like a disk cutter.

. The carriage shown in the drawings is fitted to ways 9 in the top of the bed a, so as to travel always parallel with the blank-spindle D, and the bearing H of the cutter-driving arbor h is shown fixed permanently at right angles to the ways, as is common in machines designed exclusively for cutting spurteeth. Many of such machines are now in use which can be utilized to cut gears with spirally-inclined teeth by the use of our attachment having an end-milling cutter with its axis directed toward the blank-spindle and a connection of the carriage-feed shaft with the worm of the indexing-wheel to turn the gear-blank through the desired are as the cutter progresses across its periphery. In the example shown in the drawings the shaft is, which would be connected with the feed-gearing, and the change-wheels m, driven by such shaft, represent the means for rotating the indexing-wheel e to turn the blank gradually during the cutting of a spiral tooth, while the crank 'n and graduated wheel on represent the means for spacing the teeth, and in machines of the class shown in the aforesaid patent, No. 57 5,393, a frictionally driven change-wheel shaft is used, with a connection to the cutter-carriage to release the changewheels intermittingly, so that the indexingwheel may be turned to space the blank when .the feed-carriage is retracted and the cutter withdrawn from the blank. Such machines require no change when an end-milling cutter is provided to cut spiral teeth except a connection between the feed-gearing and the indexing worm-spindle to turn the blank continuously during the cutting of the teeth and to reverse the motion of the indexing-wheel when the cutter-carriage is retracted. The particular means for effecting these objects or for spacing the teeth upon the blank forms no part of the present invention, and it is immaterial how they are constructed and whether or not they operate automatically.

The blank in cutting spiral teeth is commonly turned backward after the cutting of each tooth to restore it to its initial position,

the indexing-wheel being turned in addition pable of adjustment at any other angle which would be required to turn the disk cutter at an inclination to the path of the carriage, and the means for turning and indexing the blank are therefore immaterial.

The means for releasing the blank-spindle by reversing its locking-screw are shown in Figs. ,8 to 11, inclusive, the head 0 being shown in Fig. 8 with the rotary blank-support d provided with the blank-spindle D, in the rear end of which a threaded socket is shown to admit the locking-screw p. The locking-screw is extended outwardly through the rear end of the spindle-support d to receive the operating-levers and is provided with a collar 1), (shown in Fig. 8,) fitted against the rear end of the support d, and in Fig. 11 with a collar 19 at the bottom of the socket in which the blank-spindle D is fitted.

In Fig. 8 a hand-wheel P is shown attached to the shank of the locking-screw to turn the same when securing the spindle D in its socket, and an unlocking-lever Q of much greater radius than the hand-wheel is provided to unlock or discharge the blank-spindle. The collar 19 (with the construction of Fig. 8) presses hard upon the rear end of the spindle-support 01 during the locking of the blank-spindle; but in reversing the motion of the locking-screw to force the spindle from the socket the collar 1:) is pressed outwardly and a cap P is attached to the end of the spindle-support d to resist such outward thrust, and the unlocking-lever Q is shown fitted loosely to the shank of the screw 19 and provided with ratchet-teeth q to engage similar teeth attached to the locking-screw by the hub of the hand-wheel. A collar 4" is fixed upon the extreme end of the locking-screw dle D from its socket.

blank and gear-cutter.

to hold the unlocking-lever when the teeth formed upon the adjacent faces of the hub of the hand-wheel P and the hub of the unlocking-lever Q; but a modification is shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 in which a ratchet-wheel with external teeth is shown upon the hub of the hand-wheel and the unlocking-lever is shown with only a single tooth q to engage the same and with a slotted eye (1 which permits the tooth to drop out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel, as shown in these figu res,when

'the unlocking-lever is not in use.

In Fig. 11 a construction is shown which avoids applying a cap P to the rear end of the spindle-support d, a collar 19 being provided upon the locking-screw to fit the bottom of the socket inwhich the blank-spindle D is fitted, and the collar thus situated resists the outer thrust of the screw when the unlocking-lever Q is used to force the spin- In this construction thecollar p is formed directly upon thehub of the hand-wheel P, which can be readily done where the cap P is not employed.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 the floor-pan is shown constructed as a base for the bed a, the base having a seat A, which forms a platform raised above the floor, upon which the chips fall throughan aperture 9 in the carriage and an aperture a in the top of the bed. Such platform is formed at a suitable distance above the floor to form the tank A below such platform to drain the oil or lubricator therefrom which may be mingled with the chips. Thefront end of the pan is formed with a trough A projected beneath the gear-case Z,

which is used in such machines to contain the feed-gearing for the carriage and from which oil is liable to drip. The pan, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, is formed withthetrough upon the right-hand side, (viewed from the gearcase 1,) the left-hand side being thatupon which the operator usually stands and where any projection from the bed of the machine upon the floor impedes his access to the gear- The pan is therefore projected upon the left-hand side of the machine only sufficient to form-a channel A which is connected with the rearend of the tank by a channel A at the rear end of the pan. The channels A and A form projections upon the pan sufficientto catch any oil drippingfrom the machine above them. The sides of the floor-pan are undercut next the floor, thus narrowing the base materially and causing the troughs around the edges of the pan to overhang the base, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The necessity of the overhang is especially great for the channel A as it permits of sufficient projection of the channel to catch the d rip from the machine without preventing the operator from standing close to the bed a, as his toes can project beneath the channel or trough A The bottom of the trough A as shown in Fig. '1 is sloped toward the bed a, and as shown in Fig. 3 toward the tank, which is. shown extended nearly to the front end of'the bed. The oil which runs from the platform A into the trough A thus finds its way quickly to thetank and cannot stand in the trough. The bottom of the channel A is preferably sloped, as shown in Fig. 3, from the. trough A to the channel A, so as not to discharge oil into the trough, which is more exposed to observation than the rear channel. Any of the oil which is supplied to the cutter and which flows from the edge of the carriage into the channel A? is thus led to the rear end of the bed instead of to the front, where there, is naturally very little dripjinto the floor-pan and where the appearance of oil would be most unsightly. Partitions or baffie-plates 0. are shown 'in the tank. near its ends where the oil flows into the same, and they are extended to a sufficien't height to skim the oil and arrest the sediment, while the clear oil flows over the top of the partitions into the. body of the tank.

The tank is shown in Figs. 1 ahd 3jwith a cover a supported upon the partitions by lugs s, with its ends slightly above the, bottom of the trough to let the oil flow into the tank without running upon the top, of the cover. The cover is formed with a slot 5' to admit the suction-pipe t of a pump 15, which.

is attached to the cutter-carriage g and driven bygearing from the side shaft is. The discharge-pipe t of the pump is shown carried up tothe cutter in Fig. 1 to lubricate the same as it passes through the gear-blank.

The cover is shown in Fig. 1". divided into two parts at the center of the slot, whichpermits the cover to be applied to the tank without removing the suction-pipe ti. .With such IIO construction the separate halves of the cover canbe removed to uncover the whole tank for removing sediment or oil and without displacing. the suction-pipe t. During the reciprocating movement of the carriage the suction-pipe moves back and forth in the slot between the partitions (1 where the'oil is kept free from sediment by the partitions.

We are aware that it is old in many kinds .of machines to provide an oil-pan beneath the same to catch the oiland to furnish such a pan with a tankin which the oil maybe separated from the chips and that baffleplates are also used to separate theoilfrom the chips, and we v have therefore only claimed particular featuresof our construction.

igo

The essential features of the floor-pan are the platform raised above the floor to receive the chips from the gear-cutter, the tank projected downwardly in the base below the level of such platform, the edge of the pan projected outwardly from the base to form a trough to receive the oil and conductit to the tank, and the edge of the floor-pan undercut, particularly Where the operator stands, to afford closer access to the bed. The undercutting of the base thus causes the trough of the pan to overhang that portion of the base which rests upon the floor and secures the projection of a pan around the bottom of the bed a without greatly extending the base which is formed by the floor-pan.

The attach ments described greatly increase the capacity of the class of gear-cutters to which the invention applies and the convenience of operating the same.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is 1. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with the horizontally-reciprocatingcutter-carriage g having the main bearing with the horizontal driving-arbor h supported therein and provided upon its inner end with a socket for the shank of a disk cutter, and having the seat 71, for a detachable outboard-bearing to support the end of an arbor disk-cutter spindle, the vertical bearing H having the foot I-I adapted to fit the seat of the outboardbearing and the feet h fitted to the carriage at opposite sides of the main bearing, means for securing the feet detachably to the carriage in a uniform relation to the arbor h, the spindle I fitted to the vertical bearing and provided at the top with an end-milling cutter H, and a pair of gears detachably connecting the spindle I and the driving-arbor interchangeably with the disk-cutter spindle, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a cutter-carriage having a horizontal drivingarbor adapted to rotate a disk cutter, of a vertical bearing mounted removably upon the carriage, a vertical spindle therein carrying at the top an end-milling cutter, gearing connecting such spindle detachably with the driving-arbor, a housing inclosing such gearing to protect the same from the chips of the milling-cutter and provided with an oil trough below the base of the cutter, and a guard upon the housing extended toward the base of the cutter, as and for the purpose set forth. I

3. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a horizontal bed a with a column b at one end having the head 0 adjustable vertically with the blank-spindle support d, and the bed having the carriage g fitted to reciprocate in ways 9 parallel with the blank-spindle support and having the horizontal driving-arbor adapted to rotate a disk cutter, of a vertical bearing mounted removably upon the carriage, a vertical spindle therein carrying at the top an end-milling cutter, gearing connecting such spindle detachably with the driving-arbor, a housing inclosing such gearing to protect the same from the chips of the end-milling cutter, a driving-shaft with connections from the blank-spindle to the end milling-cutter spindle to rotate the same, means actuated by the driving-shaft for feeding the carriage, and means actuated by the driving-shaft for turning the gear-blank spindle during the cutting operation to form gear-teeth spirally upon the blank.

4. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a rotatable blank-support having an indexing or turning wheel thereon and a socket at one end for the blank-spindle, of a spindle-locking screw extended from the opposite end of the support with collar thereon,a cap attached to the support to form an outer bearing for the collar, means for turning the screw to lock the spindle in the socket, and an unlockinglever fitted loosely upon the screw with means to engage it with the screw, when required, to force the gear-spindle from its socket.

5. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a rotatable blank-support having an indexing or turning wheel thereon and a taper-socket at one end for the blank-spindle, of a spindlelocking screw extended from the opposite end of the support with collar thereon, a cap attached to the support to form an outer hearing for the collar, a hand-wheel secured upon the screw with ratchet-teeth upon the hub, and an unlocking-lever fitted loosely to the screw and adapted, when required, to engage such ratchet-teeth to force the gear-spindle from its socket, and to clear such ratchetteeth in the normal rotations of the spindlesupport.

6. A gear-cutter having a floor-pan with platform raised above the floor to receive the chips from the gear-cutter, a tank projected downwardly in the base below the level of the platform, and the edge of the pan being projected upwardly from the base to form a trough and overhung to permit the closer access of the operator to the bed.

7. A gear-cutter having a floor-pan with base having seat raised above the floor to support the gear-cutter bed and a platform to receive the chips from the cutter, a trough inclined downwardly from such platform and a tank in the base below the bottom of the trough, whereby the chips are drained upon the platform and the oil is accumulated wholly in the tank.

8. In a gear-cutter having a floor-pan with base having seat raisedabove the floor to support the gear-cutter bed and a platform to receive the chips from the cutter, a trough in the base around such bed and inclined downwardly from the level of the platform toward the rear end of the bed, a tank in the base below the bottom of the trough, and a cover for such tank with its edges raised to admit the oil from the trough.

9. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a horizontal bed havinga cutter-carriage movable thereon, gearing upon the front end of the bed and a driving-shaft with connections thereto for reciprocating the carriage, of a floor-pan with base having seat raised above the floor to support the bed and a platform to receive the chips from the cutter, a trough extended from the front end of the bed beneath the carriage-feed gearing, a tank in the base at one side of the bed in connection with the trough, a channel extended from the trough around the opposite side and rear end of the bed to the rear end of the tank, and all parts of the trough being inclined from the platform downwardly toward the tank, as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a bed having a cutter-carriage movable thereon, and a driving-shaft and means connected thereto to feed the carriage, and a pump for feeding lubricant to the cutter upon the carriage, of a base supporting the bed at a suitable distance above the floor with a tank in the base below the level of the bed, and a trough projected upwardly from the bed around the edges of the base, with an inclination from all parts of the trough toward the tank.

ll. Ina gear-cutter, the combination, with a bed having a cutter-carriage movable thereon, a driving-shaft and means connected thereto to feed the carriage, a pump for feeding lubricant to the cutter upon the carriage, and a base supporting the bed at a suitable distance above the door with a tank in the base at one side of the bed below the level of the same, and a trough projected upwardly from the bed around the edges of the base with an inclination from all parts of the trough toward the tank, and the edge of the trough being overhung to permit the closer access of the operator to the bed.

12. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a bed having a carriage'movable thereon, of a driving-shaft and means connected thereto to feed the carriage, a pump for feeding lubricant to the cutter upon the carriage, a base supporting the bed at a suitable distance above the floor with a tank in the base below the level of the bed, and a trough projected upwardly from the bed around the edges of the base with an inclination from. all parts of the trough toward the tank, vertical parti tions in the tank near the ends to catch the sediment, and a suction-pipe from the pump upon the carriage arranged to move between the partitions as the carriage is reciprocated upon the bed.

13. In a gear-cutter, the combination, with a bed having a carriage movable thereon, of a driving shat't and means connected thereto .to feed the carriage, a pump for feeding lubricant to the cutter upon the carriage, a base supporting the bed at a suitable distance above the floor with a tank in' the base below the level of the bed, and a trough projected upwardly from the bed around the edges of HENRY E..EBERHARDT. FRED L. EBERHARDT.

Witnesses:

J 0s. B. PIERSON, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

